Sprite is a colorless, caffeine-free, lemon and lime-flavoredsoft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first developed in West Germany in 1959 as Fanta Klare Zitrone ("Clear Lemon Fanta") and was introduced in the United States under the current brand name Sprite in 1961 as a competitor to 7 Up. Bottles of Sprite are usually transparent green in color, with a green and yellow label, whereas cans are colored silver, green, and blue, and aluminum bottles have a solid lime green color.

Marketing

Sprite with ice

Sprite advertising often makes use of the portmanteau word lymon, a combination of the words "lemon" and "lime".

By the 1980s, Sprite had developed a large following among teenagers. In response, Sprite began to cater to this demographic in their advertisements in 1987. "I Like the Sprite In You" was the brand's first long-running slogan, and many jingles were produced around it before its discontinuation in 1994.

In 1994, Sprite revamped their marketing logo, and slogan, as well. The new, more vibrant logo stood out more on packaging, and featured a blue-to-green gradient with silver "splashes" and subtle white "bubbles" in the background. The product name, "Sprite" had a blue backdrop shadow on the logo. The words; "Great Lymon Taste!" which had been present on the previous logo, were removed. This logo was used in the United States until 2006, and similar variants were used in other countries until this year as well.

The brand's slogan was changed to; "Obey Your Thirst", and jingles containing it became urban-oriented, featuring a hip-hop theme. One of the first lyrics for the new slogan were: "never forget yourself 'cause first things first, grab a cold, cold can, and obey your thirst." Under the new slogan, Sprite tapped into hip-hop culture by leveraging up and coming, as well as underground rap artists including; LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Missy Elliott, Grand Puba, Common, Fat Joe, Nas and others in television commercials. Sprite expanded its urban connections in the late 1990s by featuring both amateur and accomplished basketball players in their advertisements. To this day, NBA players and hip-hop artists such as LeBron James and Lil Yachty frequently appear in Sprite adverts.[1]

In 1998, one commercial poked fun at products which featured cartoon mascots in the style of a horror film. In it, the mascot for a fictitious orange juice drink called "Sun Fizz" comes to life, terrifying the kids and mother, and starts to chase them. This commercial is also notorious for ending on a cliffhanger which still remains unresolved to this day.[]

In the 1990s, one of Sprite's longest-running ad campaigns was "Grant
Hill Drinks Sprite" (overlapping its "Obey Your Thirst" campaign), in which the well-liked basketball player's abilities, and Sprite's importance in giving him his abilities, were humorously exaggerated.[2][3]

Evolution of Sprite Bottles.

In 2000, Sprite commissioned graffiti artist Temper to design limited edition art, which appeared on 100 million cans across Europe.[]

In 2004, Coke created Miles Thirst, a vinyl doll voiced by Reno Wilson, used in advertising to exploit the hip-hop market for soft drinks.[4]

In 2006, a new Sprite logo, consisting of two yellow and green "halves" forming an "S" lemon/lime design, made its debut on Sprite bottles and cans. The slogan was changed from its long running "Obey Your Thirst" to just "Obey" in the United States and was outright replaced with "Freedom From Thirst" in many countries. This was the decade's first major shift in advertising themes.

In France in 2012, the drink was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with the sweetener Stevia.[6] This led to the drink containing fewer calories. This soon spread to Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands in 2013.[7]

A further formula change happened in the UK in 2018. This formula replaces Stevia with Aspartame and Acesulfame K and has less sugar than before.[8]

Variations

Sprite without the sugar. It was originally produced in the United States as "Sugar Free Sprite" in 1974, then was renamed to "Diet Sprite" in 1983, with some countries having the drink known as "Sprite Light" ("Sprite Lite" in the United Kingdom). In September 2004, it was rebranded as "Diet Sprite Zero" in the US and "Sprite Zero" ("Sprite Z" in the United Kingdom, until rebranding as Sprite Zero) in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Europe, India, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, New Zealand and the UK. "Diet" was dropped from the product's name, to become simply "Sprite Zero," when new logos debuted in June 2006. The "Zero" designation for low-calorie sodas from the Coca-Cola Company was first used on Diet Sprite Zero before being used on the flagship Zero product, Coca-Cola Zero.

Sprite Lemon-Lime Herb

1970s

Sprite with a herb taste. Only known to be sold in Germany.

Sprite Dry Lemon

Early 2000s

Sprite with a more dry taste, which was made exclusively for Japan. It was marketed alongside the regular variety (which was known as "Sprite Sparkling Lemon") over there.

Recharge by Sprite

Early 2000s

A Sprite Energy Drink variant sold in Australia until 2006. The drink was also turquoise in color, different to how Sprite is usually clear.

Sprite with a minty aftertaste. Originally released as "Sprite Blue" in Korea in 2002, and has been released under various names, such as "Sprite Ice" in various countries like Canada, '"Sprite Ice Cube" in Belgium, "Sprite Ice Blue" in Italy and Chile, "Sprite Icy Mint" in Mainland China, and "Sprite Mynta" in Sweden and Norway.

Sprite with Fruit Flavors, and the last in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2005 to 2006. [11]

Sprite 3G

2005

A Sprite energy drink variant originally launched in the United Kingdom in 2005. Ingredients include glucose, caffeine from green coffee beans and guarana. It was also released in various other countries, but was discontinued in the UK in 2007 due to poor sales, and that Coca-Cola wanted to focus more on Relentless. [12]

Sprite Duo

2007

A variant with less carbonation and extra lemon juice. Was released exclusively in Spain in Spring 2007. [13]

Chinotto

The name Sprite is known as in some South American countries.

Sprite Super Chilled

2008

Expected as early as 2008, special packaging and vending machines were to produce ice in the bottle when it was opened.[14]

Sprite Green

2009

A variant sweetened with Truvia (a natural zero-calorie sweetener made from stevia).[15] It however, wasn't a success and was discontinued not long after being released.

Sprite (Stevia Formula)

2012

In France in 2012, Sprite was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with the sweetener Stevia. This led to the drink containing fewer calories. This reformulation soon spread to Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in 2013.

Sprite Cranberry

2013

A cranberry-flavored Sprite. It was first sold for the holiday season in 2013 alongside its Zero counterpart, and has been sold every holiday season since.[16] The variant competes with PepsiCo's Mist Twst Cranberry, which unlike Sprite Cranberry is sold year-round. Sprite Cranberry Zero was introduced in Norway in August 2018.

Sprite 6 Mix

2014

Sprite with additional Cherry and Orange Flavors in addition to the Lemon and Lime. It was released as a collaboration between Sprite and LeBron James in the United States in 2014. It was sold again as "Sprite LeBron's Mix" in 2015.

Sprite Blast

2014

Sprite with sweet and sour Flavors. It was released for the Summer of 2014 in the United States, exclusive to 7-Eleven stores (at time of sale) and was sold only in 7.5 ounce single cans. The variety was also released in New Zealand in summer 2017, and was sold in all sizes.

Sprite Tropical

2015

A Re-Release of Sprite Remix Tropical, it was sold for a limited time in 2015, and again as "Sprite Tropical Mix" in 2016.

Sprite Cucumber

2017

Sprite with a Cucumber flavor. Launched in 2017 in Russia and in June 2018 in Romania. A Zero variety was introduced in the UK in 2018.

Sprite Cherry

2017

Sprite with a Cherry flavor. Launched in 2017 in the United States as a permanent variety, alongside its Zero counterpart.

MIX by Sprite: Tropic Berry

2018

Sprite with a tropical berry flavor. Similar to Sprite Tropical Mix, and is sold exclusively at McDonald's.

Sprite Fiber+

2018

Zero sugar, zero calorie Sprite with dietary fiber added. 7.5 grams of dietary fiber are included to make up approximately 30% of the daily fiber requirement for adults. According to the bottle, this is the amount of fiber found in two apples. Debuted in the beginning of April, 2018, in Chongqing, China.[17]